Pets and small animals usually sleep directly on the floor. Often a piece of carpet, blanket, or pad has been used. However, the pets and animals are still lying on the floor, and are subject to undesirable effects such as bugs and insects, and lying on a hard uncomfortable surface.
Various types of beds and cots, and the like, have been proposed over the years that are primarily used for people. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 829,589 to Leavitt; U.S. Pat. No. 1,366,482 to Osterud; U.S. Pat. No. 1,858,254 to Uline; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,204 to Sok KyuRecently, an international patent application, PCT/AU03/00353 to Bedington discloses a bed for pets and a website, www.global sources.com/gsol/General Manager/& design, shows a “Lightweight Camping Bed Suitable for Outdoor Use,” item no. GH2047, manufactured by Zhejiang Ganghai Industrial Co. Ltd., China, copyright 2003.
However, none of the prior art devices have a locking mechanism to keep the legs in place when fully assembled, nor do they have sidewall panels for keeping animated objects confined on the surface. Furthermore, none of these devices combine sidewalls with any type of shade and protective covers such as canopies or hutch-like compartments for covering the occupants. None of these devices appear to be easily collapsible and portable, yet stable and strong enough to be used as a step to assist climbing to higher elevations. Finally, none of these devices appear to be easily collapsible and portable so as to be carried by a single person. The prior art devices would have problems supporting large weights that can come with large pets since these beds/cots would tend to collapse under large weights of up to 150 pounds or more.
Several patented devices have been proposed as beds/cots for pets. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,820,284 to Mills; Des. 127,808 to McGillicuddy; Des. 294,752 to Palier; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,694 to Haynes et al. However, these patents again do not solve all the problems with the other devices described above. For example, these pet devices do not have locking mechanisms to keep the legs in place when fully assembled, and are also not easily collapsible and portable. Furthermore, these pet devices would not be able to support large animals of up to approximately 150 pounds or more.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.